Good Sex, Great Prayers

Pratt has fallen upon
strange times. Father Johnstone, who’s served at the helm for the past
thirty years, has begun to lose his flock. He dispenses poor marital
advice and indulges in the company of lusting widows, both of which he
can hardly remember doing. The pastor has never felt more unlike
himself, and Madeline Paige—the town’s newest resident—believes she
knows the reason. What she reveals will compromise everything Father
Johnstone has ever known.
Meanwhile, two men beyond Pratt’s county lines administer their own
brand of faith. Billy Burke, the truck-stop preacher, tours the Bible
Belt advising blue-collar workers how to properly assault a meth-hooker
and the best way to protest gay nightclubs. He’s destined to meet a man
that’s been operating out of Las Vegas under many different names,
experimenting on a myriad of escorts using Christian lingerie, pious
roleplay, and Biblical paraphernalia. Together, they will push the
threshold, and the town of Pratt will serve as the battleground for when
faiths clash and lives hang in the balance.

With Good Sex, Great Prayers,
Brandon Tietz reveals the danger in believing in things you can never
fully understand. The title is a dare, a provocation, a promise—and
Tietz delivers with a visceral, faith-based attack that takes your
senses and sexuality to the limit. Despite all the intertwined
fireworks, the core story is a classic Stephen King setup, as a small
town struggles with evil and a normal man has to come to grips with
impossible circumstances in order to confront them, resulting in a
memorable and unexpected climax (the literary kind, though there’s
plenty of the dirty kind throughout). Reading this book cost me 1.2
million ‘Our Fathers’. . . and it was worth it. ~ Fred Venturini, author of The Heart Does Not Grow Back

Brandon
Tietz skewers Christianity so effectively and so severely that he
betrays what has to be a genuine affection for his target, but I'm no
psychologist. All I know is the contradictions of religion and behavior
are essentially all we care about anymore regarding our ancient and
ongoing freak show, and realizing this, Tietz has a lot of fun here. I
haven't seen take downs like this since that YouTube montage of cats
attacking babies. Written with the ardor of a modern-day Philip José
Farmer, maybe even reminding this reader a bit of the Jerry Cornelius
books from the '70s by Michael Moorcock (yeah, his last name was no
accident), this book targets hypocrisy in ever-increasing and extremely
satisfying ways. Entertaining, energetic, and like the author's previous
book Out of Touch, full of all sorts of good "bad" ideas, as well as
profane and colorful sensory overload. And the title isn't false
advertising either. In fact, some of the more fascinating biblical
passages compete with the author in a game of who can out-crazy the
other. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to watch some sacred
cows get slaughtered, or romanced, or both. ~ David James Keaton | author of Fish Bites Cop

Whores,
witchcraft, Christian relics, truck-stops, a lonely pastor and his
Yorkshire Terrier, a small intolerable town: all ingredients for a
wildly good book. If you’ve got the balls to get past the descriptive
language and controversial subject matter, you will find one helluva
character-driven world so dark, so deep, and yet oh-so uncomfortably
familiar. One of the best books I’ve read in some time… ~ Matt Micheli, author of Smut

Knowing
the author as I do, I expected an irreverent romp in the vein of Jesus
Angel Garcia’s Badbadbad, perhaps lampooning religion while vacuous
sluts violated Commandments under the auspices of some misguided
preacher. Instead, the story (though not the writing) is closer to Chuck
Wendig territory, with supernatural elements that took me by
surprise—which isn’t a spoiler. It’s a “rural fantasy” with a high
body—er, bodily fluid count, and the mature evolution I’d hoped for
Tietz. A major leap in that regard, really. Its faith and religious
elements are treated respectfully, just like in the characters who
embody them. If you liked Tietz’s previous work, odds are good you’ll
dig this, too, and even if you didn’t, GSGP offers a clean slate. While
the voice of the interspersed sermons from its truck-stop preacher will
ring familiar to you, the main story I would not have even recognized as
being by the same author. It’s mostly written in very straightforward
language that I think would appeal to a mass audience. Pun unintended.
As always, his characters are distinct and colorful, enhanced by the
small town they inhabit and its collective personality. A fickle flock,
prone to gossip and groupthink. Just like readers. Give the guy a
chance, for Christ’s sake. ~ Gordon Highland, author of Submission Windows

The
title and cover art of Brandon Tietz’s latest novel are attention
grabbers, but the book extends far beyond the erotic streak that runs
through it. Tietz’s writing has matured immensely since his début novel
Out Of Touch. Good Sex, Great Prayers is a long work that echoes the
style of early Stephen King: detail oriented rambling, high level of
characterization, small town politics, and high stakes horror. Some very
memorable characters were born out of this book that will always stick
with me: Billy Burke, the truck-stop preacher that could easily be found
in the ranks of a more radical Westboro Baptist Church and another
character with many different names that could be the love child of
Patrick Bateman and James Bond.
Paranoia, high tension, steady pacing, twists and turns–this book whet
my appetite with this foundation, but blew me away with the originality
and strong writing.
The author didn’t skimp on his research either. Religion and sex do meet
in this book, but not in the way you would expect. The sex is far from
pleasant, and so were most of the religious sexual rituals described in
some of the chapters. The sex scenes cross in to horror territory.
In my opinion, this is the author’s shining achievement. I’m excited to
see what he will do with his next novel because it will take a lot to
top Good Sex, Great Prayers. Since Brandon Tietz is constantly working
out his writing muscles, pumping his prose full of steroids, I have
faith that he won’t disappoint. ~ Revolt Daily

Zinat Hanna is a full time writer who spends most of his time in
the coffee shops of Texas. Zinat has a BSc in psychology. Her
other interests are self improvement, general health, trans-humanism and
brain training. As well as writing for websites and magazines, she also
runs her own sites and has published several books and apps on these
topics. She lives in Texas, USA with her boyfriend and in her spare
time she enjoys climbing, travelling, playing games, reading comics and
eating sandwiches.

About Me

Zinat Hanna is a full time writer who spends most of his time in
the coffee shops of Texas. Zinat has a BSc in psychology. Her
other interests are self improvement, general health, trans-humanism and
brain training. As well as writing for websites and magazines, she also
runs her own sites and has published several books and apps on these
topics. She lives in Texas, USA with her boyfriend and in her spare
time she enjoys climbing, travelling, playing games, reading comics and
eating sandwiches.